Australia's Science Forum

Thank you! Very interesting Our TCE Bio kids do a banana prac every year (leave green bananas for a week and test with Benedict's and iodine throughout) and we never get very good results. It basically goes from negative to a wishy washy positive with no graduation of colour. Did you manage to get i...

I keep mine for longer then 3 months...although it does not hold its molarity long. If I need standardised naoh I re standardise if it is only than a month or so. Mine is stored in whatever I have on hand. Molten NaOH will dissolve glass so I suppose in soution it may have some effect but I have nev...

We have some old ones similar to the top one in your pictures and newer ones like the bottom one. Our newer ones are from Cider House Tech (we get all our pasco gear from there) Never had a complaint about them.

Depends. We say 48 hours but in reality 24 is usually fine. We say a week if something needs to be brought in, but in reality 48 hours is usually fine. With my IB students who all do individual research projects for ever subject I say a week, 2 if I need to order stuff online. In my new job I have n...

Me againnnnnnnnnnnn! anybody have a teacher doing chemistry practicals with only a few children not entire class after school hours. When rest of the department has gone home for the day/weekend. Being a little proactive instead of reactive lol. Well it's going to be reactive, have passed on furthe...

I usually just wack it on the magnetic stirrer and leave it for a while. It eventually dissolves (That's my default with most things, then I add heat if it's not dissolving or leave overnight)

I do this all the time (senior chem) Basically I put all the information on the label except name and formula. Multiple unknowns get labelled with unique identifiers for each, teacher gets SDS for each chemical. So no different to putting any chemical out in the lab really.

Plus depending on your phone, some files won't download properly or at all. That's why we stick to paper copies as well, although I do have them electronically and provide links on our register.

Samantham, how do they get around that fact that an manufacturers SDS has to be available to all workers at the site of chemical usage and storage? Does everyone have access to a phone or computer and internet? I hate Chemwatch and have moved away from using it. The school only pays a bit over $100 ...

Thanks Labbie. The trouble is I am starting from scratch. So besides science there is nothing from last year! This is part of the problem. As much as my direct manager in this area doesn't want me to, I am going to have to start physically going and starting the process myself in some departments. W...

We have a Chemical Safety Manager employed one day a week to do this. That person happens to be me :D I have s part timer come in and do lab work for me on a Friday so I can do all the chem safety stuff. ....well that's how it is meant to work anyway. I don't physically do the audits/compile lists. ...

I didn't know it was only in Vic you could get it! (Southern biological) We have a pond on site where we cultivate a few *cough* maybe not quite legal biosecurity wise *cough* . I inherited it but it is super handy.

Natural gas burners have a larger aperture due to the lower pressure so that is why they burned so well using LPG! It sounds like a pressure or air mix issue.

We store ours in a locked metal box in a locked cupboard in the physics lab (which is locked when not in use)

Does anyone know if you can easily archive from the risk assess program in bulk? e.g. not just saving every RA individually

Here are some of the titles from my yr 12 IB IA's this year: Effect of ethanol concentration of yeast respiration How does the pH of water affect the germination rate of hydroponically grown lettuce (latuca sativa) Antimicrobial effect of Thymol Does cellulase affect the concentration of betalaine p...

Yes, both solutions were clear. It sounds like the starch isn't dissolving if it is cloudy. Maybe try putting the acid in solution B and see if that works?

I did this last week. It worked perfectly. The recipe was slightly different to yours though:

Solution A:
4.1g Sodium Acetate
0.6g soluble starch
50g KI
9.4g sodium thiosulphate
1L water

Solution B:
30ml Glacial acetic acid
500ml 3% H2O2
470ml water

Borax was one of those chemicals that got reclassified under the GHS. It's hazardous rating dramatically increased, hence the teacher only classifications. It now has a fertility warning hazard code (H360). RiskAssess is the most up to date information.

sorry to burst the Christmas BAUBLE ... but NO BORAX for year 6 ... maybe a demo of elephant toothpaste with red and green food colouring .. We allow borax for slime making but gloves must be used and no taking home the product. Kids are not allowed to use it in powdered form. A borax solution less...